


Proving his Worth

by SweeneyLestrange



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Barty is 16, Barty is oblivious, Developing Friendships, First War with Voldemort, Gen, Hate Crimes, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, Pureblood Politics (Harry Potter), Rabastan has no sense of responsibility, Rabastan is pretty much hitting on Barty, people doing bad things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:21:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24588253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweeneyLestrange/pseuds/SweeneyLestrange
Summary: "Barty was so sick of the secrecy. So sick of everything. Hogwarts had become a prison — worse than Azkaban — because he had to bow down to all these stupid blood-traitors."Or: How Barty meets up with Rabastan in Hogsmeade and (almost) gets himself in trouble.
Relationships: Bartemius Crouch Jr. & Rabastan Lestrange
Kudos: 7





	Proving his Worth

_November 1978_

"So, are you going to be there tomorrow?" These words spilled from Barty's lips before he had even sit down. 

Regulus Black looked up from the old leather-bound book he was reading. He seemed weary and was definitely lacking Barty's enthusiasm. 

"Rabastan said it could be something big," Barty added, his eyes wide with excitement.

"I'd be careful if I were you," Regulus said. "Rabastan is trouble."

"Oh yeah? How do you know?"

Regulus raised an eyebrow and turned to his reading again. It made Barty fume with anger. He grabbed his books and let them smash onto the wooden desk. Everything was shaking but Regulus didn't look up. 

"You know, it's gonna be amazing. We will have the chance —"  
"Shhh," Regulus hissed. "What if someone hears us?"

Like he cared. Barty was so sick of the secrecy. So sick of everything. Hogwarts had become a prison — worse than Azkaban — because he had to bow down to all these stupid blood-traitors. 

"We are in the Slytherin Common room, for Merlin's sake! _Our_ common room. You would think that people will have some sense by now," he said it defiantly. He even crossed his arms, yet deep down he knew that Regulus was right. 

He looked towards the leather couches which stood around the fireplace. It was the favourite spot of everyone and usually reserved for the oldest who enjoyed the most respect. Until a year ago, it had been Avery and Rosier who had claimed these seats for themselves. No one would have questioned it. They would have made themselves comfortable there and laughed at the stupidness of it all because they had grand plans. They wanted to follow the Dark Lord and they didn't make a secret out if it. They didn't need to. 

Regulus, however, kept quiet. The only sound Barty could hear was the scratching of Regulus' feather as he was writing his essay on the old parchment. 

Barty watched the elegant curves unfold in front of him. He should work on his own essay but his thoughts wouldn't let him. 

"So … aren't you coming?"

A deep sigh escaped Regulus. "Look, it's my final year. I have to study …"

He didn't. They both knew it. 

"Fine," Barty snapped and jumped from his seat. He didn't care that he pushed the desk by doing so, and messed up Regulus' writing. It actually served him right. 

Without another word, Barty grabbed his stuff and went to his dorm. For once he was glad that they weren't in the same year.

*****

The next morning looked as gloomy as Barty felt. Regulus hadn't been at breakfast, so he was walking through the cold drizzle alone. His scarf was wrapped around him tightly while he struggled against the wind that tore at his hood. He hated it. He had wanted to walk down to Hogsmeade full with happiness. Instead he was alone and angry when was supposed to be excited. And the fact that he wasn't, annoyed him even more. 

As soon as he had reached Hogsmeade, Barty steered toward Honeydukes. Now that he saw the little shop he felt excitement starting to stir. Warmth rushed through the door before he had even opened it completely and took him in its sweet embrace. 

Barty walked along the shelves, evading customers' elbows and squeezing his way through to the section with Bertie Bott's Beans. He hated that it was so crowded but also recognized the advantage of it all. 

A tall man with auburn hair was blocking the shelves. Barty waited until there was a free spot next to the man. His heart started to beat faster. His glance darted toward the man next to him before he quickly pretended to looked at the various labels advertising new, fantastical flavours. Most of them sounded pretty disgusting if Barty was honest.

"Fancy trying some toad's spit?"

Barty made a face and the young man beside him laughed. 

"I thought we were going to be adventurous today, eh?" 

"Not the kind of adventure I need," Barty mumbled. 

"You sure?" Rabastan Lestrange grinned. He had taken a shovel and filled a little paperbag with some of the 'adventurous' beans. 

Barty watched as Rabastan kept studying the different flavours. He seemed so carefree, like nothing in the world could really upset him. Barty couldn't wrap his head around this attitude. But perhaps this was something one would acquire when growing older. 

"You know, considering this is your beautiful day off you do look quite serious," Rabastan said while still adding beans to his quickly growing bag. 

"Sorry," Barty said and bit his lip. Wrong answer.

"Relax, Barty-Boy, make yourself seen a little. Hang around in the Three Broomsticks. Enjoy your day."

Barty felt someone touch his hand. It was warm skin against cold and the edge of a folded note scratching against the inside of his fingers. His eyes darted towards Rabastan who still showed no sign that he was communicating with him. Then he saw the small note between Rabastan's fingers. Barty quickly grasped the piece of paper and let it disappear in his pockets. His heart was hammering against his chest now.

"So what do you think of the Veela essence?" Rabastan had turned towards a young woman, flashing her a charming smile. 

Barty understood. He took his time strolling through the other sections of the shop, ultimately giving into the desire to buy a chocolate frog edition with the latest Quidditch players. 

*****

It was cold outside. The drizzle had turned into cold rain, leaving the streets empty. Barty played with the edges of the note in his pocket. There was no way of looking at it in this weather, so there was no other choice than to follow Rabastan's advice and enter the Three Broom Sticks. 

The bustle of the pub engulfed Barty and pulled him out of the dreary weather outside. Laughter and excited shrieks tore through the loud chit-chats. There were a lot of Hogwarts students sitting at the wooden tables — most of the faces Barty recognized immediately and he knew it was the other way round as well. Whoever paid attention to him would also see his company. 

_Make yourself seen._

Barty stood frozen. He hated the kind of crowds which made him feel out of place. None of his classmates seemed appropriate options for conversation — especially now when so many were just ogling each other. He had already seen a group of girls looking over to the table where Hufflepuff's quidditch captain Aidan Lynch sat. They seemed flustered and where giggling whenever they were almost caught. This whole scene did give him an idea though …

With a sigh, Barty started moving through the crowd again and ordered a butterbeer. He took the time while waiting to have a surreptitious glance at Rabastan's note.

_Meet me in an hour near the toilet xx_

Barty's heart seemed to skip a beat. What was _that_ all about? He quickly pushed the note deep into his pocket. Surely, it meant nothing. He needed to stay level-headed and concentrate on what really mattered. 

With his butterbeer in one hand, he started walking towards Aidan Lynch and his friends. 

"Hey, Barty. I didn't know you'd be here today. Wanna join?" Aidan gave him a big and honest grin. A grin that never failed to make people feel welcome. 

"That'd be nice, thanks."

Barty awkwardly squeezed in between the spot on the bank that was barely big enough for him. 

"We were just talking about the latest game between the Kenmare Kestrels and the Montrose Magpies," Aidan informed him. 

And suddenly the unease fell off of Barty. 

"Really?" Barty said. "So what do you think of Donnelly's last throw?"

"Yeah, it was brilliant, wasn't it?" Aidan sat upright. His eyes full with passion as he started to elaborate his thoughts. 

It was easy to talk about quidditch. There was barely anything Barty loved as much and it was always a pleasure to talk with a fellow Kenmare Kestrel fan. And if Barty was honest Aidan wasn't bad. He might have been too kind for his own good, not knowing where to draw a line when it came to purebloods and the scum of the wizarding world, but it could be overlooked. Aidan had never been taught these differences after all. 

Now that the ice was broken, Barty felt more comfortable to mingle. He went to others, giving them his friendliest smile or casual nods — whatever they needed to see in him — and engaged in various conversations about school, quidditch, or other people. Some of it was enjoyable, most of it was not. Especially not when Barty could think of people he'd rather be with. 

As he looked up from another sip of his butterbeer, he saw Rabastan enter the pub. Their eyes met for a split second and Rabastan gave him a wink, before he disappeared in the crowd. 

Everything else was forgotten. Barty was suddenly painfully aware that he had not checked the time, so what did _in one hour_ really mean? And would Rabastan keep track of the time?

Careful not to look suspicious, Barty excused himself from his classmates and made his way to the gents toilet. He almost bumped into an old wizard, who was just leaving the loo, but other than that there was no one to be seen. Baty awkwardly stood around. 

Suddenly someone pushed into him steering him right through the toilet door.

"Hey," Barty protested and fell silent as he saw Rabastan. He had grasped his shoulder and didn't seem to let him go. 

"Are you ready?" 

"Wha-?" But then Barty nodded. The last thing he wanted was to look like someone uncertain. He was here for a reason! He needed to demonstrate determination. 

"Good." Rabastan patted him on the back and then offered him his hand. 

Barty looked from the open palm to Rabastan who was grinning at him. Then he took it. 

Everything around him twisted into colourful spirals as they disapparated. Barty was engulfed in a swirling rush and spit out into a plain room. 

"So," Rabastan said while walking to one of the leather couches which stood face to face in front of a fireplace. "Did you like my little note?"

Barty blinked. He looked at Rabastan's grinning face. Then it dawned on him what the older one was hinting at. Heat rushed into his cheeks. Barty could feel his ears turn red while he was scrambling for words. 

"I-i don't know…." he mumbled. "I hope … I-I wasn't late."  
"Late?" Rabastan clicked his tongue which made Barty almost hold his breath. "Relax. I'm just messing with you." Rabastan had gotten up again and put his hand on Barty's shoulder. 

Barty thought it best not to say anything and to just wait. 

"But I thought a note like this was the least suspicious thing. I mean who isn't up for some fun in the toilets?" Rabastan winked and leaned into Barty's personal space which made the younger one shyly lean away. "Well, anyway, we're here to have some proper fun, right?"

"I s'ppose so?" 

"What was that?"

"Yes! You're right!" Barty watched as Rabastan started to pace the room. He wondered where they were. The room was neither particularly big nor had it anything noteworthy in it to give him a clue as to their whereabouts. Heavy curtains covered the windows so there was no way of telling either. 

Rabastan had found a bottle of firewhisky which he was pouring into a glass now. "You want some?"

Barty shook his head, yet Rabastan poured him one regardless. 

"You might need it," he said with a cheeky smile. 

Barty clenched his jaw. He hadn't moved from his spot yet. The entire situation made him feel incredibly insecure. He hated this because he wanted to do the right thing. He wanted Rabastan to appreciate him, to see him — probably even as a friend. The whole messing around thing confused him though. It made him feel stupid, and young, and totally out of Rabastan's league. What made it worse was that part of him enjoyed the closeness of it all.

"What are we going to do?" he asked, hoping to get a grip of himself. 

"Right," Rabastan said and let himself fall onto one of the couches. He gestured towards the other one and Barty hesitantly took a seat. "So, there's a nice little task for you. See, my brother thought we should give you an opportunity to prove yourself."  
Barty's eyes lit up. If Rodolphus' was giving him a task, that could only mean he was considered to be ready.

"I — obviously — am here to see how you are doing," Rabastan continued. "You know we can't risk to have people joining our course when they are doing this only half-heartedly."

"I will do everything!" These words had bursted from Barty before he could actually think about them. 

Rabastan just laughed and nodded appreciatively. "I told Rodolphus, you'd say that." Then he put the glass of firewhisky onto the small table and leaned forward. "Although everything is a broad kinda thing to say, you know."  
Barty stared at him blankly. If Rabastan was going somewhere with this, he couldn't fully grasp what it was, yet he had the sinking feeling that he'd made a mistake once again. 

Rabastan sighed and threw his hands theatrically into the air. "Alright, alright, enough messing around for today." This time he gave Barty an almost genuine smile and nodded towards the other glass with firewhisky. "Have some. It's good for your nerves."

The idea of drinking alcohol when he was about to prove himself worthy to a Death Eater didn't seem very sensible. Yet it was Rabastan who said it, so Barty took the glass. It was cold against his fingers and the strong smell of the liquor almost made him scrunch up his face. He could feel Rabastan watching him. He had to act fast or it would become too obvious that he hadn't drunken a lot of this stuff yet. 

Barty took a sip. The liquid seemed to burn its way down to his stomach and now really made im scrunch up his face. He hurried to put the glass back on the table and met Rabastan's eyes. He'd arched up an eyebrow, smirking at what he saw.

Yet he didn't say anything to that. Instead Rabastan said, "You see, Barty, the task's pretty simple: you just need to help out with some redesigning."

"Redesigning?" Barty echoed.

"Yeah, like, strong messages to the wizarding world."

Barty thought about it. This was almost disappointing. It didn't feel grand, it felt small and insignificant. How was this supposed to help him get recognition? Yet … there was a problem. He chewed on his lip. If it came down to him writing stuff on someone's wall, there was a high risk of getting caught, wasn't there?

"Are you getting cold feet?"  
"No!" Barty glared at Rabastan. He was almost surprised at how much more certain he sounded than he felt. 

"But you're worried, admit it."

Barty looked at the glass he was still holding in his hands. Then, without thinking he took another sip. He wanted to do this! He needed to prove himself worthy and he would do whatever it took. And still … It wasn't even dark outside yet, anyone could see him. And he needed to be back at Hogwarts at some point. And depending where …

He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice the smirk on Rabastan's face or how he got up and walked over towards him. Only when he let himself fall onto the couch next to him did Barty look up.

"It's alright to be worried," Rabastan said putting his arm on the backrest behind Barty. "See, that's the sensible thing to do. And for the position my brother and — I am sure the Dark Lord as well — see you in you will need to act sensibly."

Barty couldn't help but beam at the mention of Rodolphus and the Dark Lord already seeing him in an important position.

"But," Rabastan said, "we should not forget to have some proper fun once in a while. Besides, who says you're gonna do all the work alone? I will, of course, help you out a bit."

"I like that," Barty said. Then he looked up and met Rabastan's eyes. His head felt dizzy from the importance of this moment as he added, "I am ready to do anything alone as well, though."

"Sure, you are. Don't think I know that," Rabastan grinned. "But do you really think I am letting you have all the fun? Besides, I'm gonna take care of the distraction, so can just write away."  
"Right. So the task is to write some slogans?" Barty tried to hide his growing excitement. Knowing that Rabastan would be there made him feel safe. 

"Yeah. What would you wanna write?"

"Death to all mudbloods," Barty said without hesitation.

"I like that. Strong message, easy to understand."

A small smile crept onto Barty's lips. "Right?"

Rabastan returned it and took another drink from his firewhisky. "Alright. The place is gonna be Hogsmeade," he said. "We have probably about 3 hours until you are expected to be back at Hogwarts, but this shouldn't be a problem."

Usually this sounded like a problem. But there was something about Rabastan, that made Barty feel safe and confident. It was the secrecy of it all. It was knowing they'd do it for a higher purpose which bound them together. He felt happy.

*****

In theory everything seemed so much easier than it usually was. It wasn't any different this time. Barty was grasping the invisibility cloak that was stuffed into his bag. His breath turned to little clouds in front of his face, while he was waiting in a dark corner of an alley. It was Rabastan's condition. He wanted to see if Barty really trusted him, so he didn't want him to hide before his turn came. In return, Rabastan had promised to give him backup. He'd take care of some distraction while Barty had to fulfill his task. 

Easy. 

It meant that Barty was not alone. He could prove himself. 

Unfortunately, this didn't change the fact that Barty almost jumped at every sound behind his back. His heart was hammering against his chest while he was waiting for the signal. He tried to calm himself by looking at it reasonably: he'd gotten a different cloak which wouldn't give him away as a Hogwarts student immediately. He had also pulled his hood deep in his face making him even further unrecognizable. He should be safe in the shadows. He needed to trust the Death Eaters. If he didn't trust them he wouldn't make it. 

Then Barty heard the screams. 

He threw the invisibility cloak over himself and ran out of the alley onto the street. He knew the house that needed a message. Two mudbloods were said to live there (as if one wasn't bad enough already).

He grasped the bucket with blood, that was standing nearby, and dipped the brush into it. As he looked around there was no one to be seen, however, a lot of the noises grew louder. There wasn't much time. 

Quickly, Barty started to write big letters on the stone wall of the house. He was careful to modify his handwriting, although a part of him was still skeptical if it was enough to not be found out. But there was no time to hesitate, no time for doubt. 

His strokes grew frantic. Blood splashed everywhere, absorbing his worries. The message he was writing started to repeat itself inside his head. He whispered it to himself, concentrating on getting the letters right. 

Then he took a step back, taking in his masterpiece.

_DEATH TO ALL MUDBLOODS_

It looked beautifully horrifying. A warning that it was only a matter of time until the wizarding world had got rid of this scum. And Barty was the one who had written this warning. The warm glow of pride was swelling up inside of him, as he quickly dumped the bucket as instructed and ran away from the scene. 

His feet carried him back to the alley where he almost bumped into Rabastan. 

"Did you make it?"

Words horse, soft, and frantic from the effort to catch his breath. 

"Yes." Barty panted. Without thinking he took Rabastan's hand and let him be disapparated once more into their hiding place. 

He threw the blood-stained invisibility cloak in a corner while he got out of the cloak Rabastan had given him. 

"So, how did it go?" Rabastan asked, munching on some Bertie Bott's Beans while he watched Barty. 

"Good," Barty grinned. He felt excitement burst through him as he finally grasped the situation in its entirety. "Rabastan, I made it! The wall looks beautiful!" He laughed, feeling light-headed from the success.  
"I so wanna see these daft faces of those little motherfuckers." Rabastan laughed and threw Barty's Hogwarts robe to him. "You know the drill, I'll bring you back, you're gonna be in shock etcetera, etcetera."

Barty nodded. 

"By the way," Rabastan got closer and patted him on the shoulder, "good job today. The others will like what I'm gonna tell them about you."

With that they apparated back to the scene.

Barty felt like the happiest boy on earth as he rushed towards his classmates. Their fear seemed so dull and insignificant when they pulled him into their upset chatter about what happened. Because there had been a fight. An attack even. Right in front of the Hog's Head. Hogsmeade was not safe any more. Aurors were supposed to come. Someone had started crying at the sight of Barty's writing. But no one knew that one of the culprits was among them. This knowledge filled Barty with glee. 

He did his best to feign horror and shock though when they were ushered back to Hogwarts, back to safety. He played the part of the outraged son of the Head of Magical Law Enforcement whose father would surely take care of this.

Back at Hogwarts, they were greeted by McGonagall and Dumbledore in the Great Hall. Empty promises were spoken that this was not to happen again. Barty listened to it and nodded and felt bored out of his mind because everyone should know by now that things would only get 'worse'. 

He could feel Regulus' gaze upon him every now and then as they sat at their house table. None of them said a word throughout Dumbledore's speech. Instead it was their classmates who dared to make small remarks, saying that people overreacted. There was nothing wrong about a clear and good message. 

"Aren't you scared?" Regulus asked. 

"I don't know," Barty whispered as they went back to their common room. "Rabastan made sure no one's seen anything." Instead he smiled and his eyes lit up at the fresh memory. "You should have been there. At first I thought this is way too easy because I can do more, but it was still glorious to see all these stupid people being in shock."

Regulus smiled slightly. "That's why it was you today. Rabastan knew how eager you are to prove yourself."

"And I did!" Barty turned towards Regulus, flashing him a big grin. The conversation they've had earlier was forgotten. "He says I did a good job and he will tell the others. Regulus, it's not gonna be long any more!"  
Barty felt like dancing. He wanted to scream his excitement out into the world because he got closer. Surely, soon he would be allowed to join the Death Eaters. 

**Author's Note:**

> As you may have noticed this work has not been beta read yet. If someone's up for that or just wants to point out some grave mistakes, please let me know.
> 
> Also, I'd be interested to hear what you think about the characters, their relationship, and the theme of this OS. To be honest, considering the current global situation I wonder in what way it is appropriate to write about such things - even if it is "only" ficitonal racism. Please be aware I don't condone any of the actions happening in this OS. Rabastan is a horrible human being and Barty, sadly, is on his way to becoming one. 
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading, hope you 'enjoyed' it.


End file.
